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Ottawa to appeal prostitution ruling

OTTAWA—Canadians face a long, thorny national argument over sex-for-money after thefederal government said it will appeal an Ontario court ruling that struck down Canada’s prostitution laws.

“Prostitution is a problem that harms individuals and communities,” Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said as he made the announcement Wednesday in the Commons. “That is why I am pleased to indicate to the House that the government will appeal and will seek a stay of that decision.”

As expected, the government launched its appeal a day after an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that certain prostitution-related laws are unconstitutional.

Nicholson also said Ottawa will ask the courts to suspend the decision by Justice Susan Himel while the case winds its way through the legal system.

This could mean several years of uncertainty about what laws will ultimately be enforced on the sale of sex in Canada.

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It is also likely to spark a country-wide debate on an emotional issue that has challenged lawmakers and the courts in this country for decades.

Prostitution is not illegal in Canada but the court struck down three provisions that criminalized most aspects of prostitution.

In her ruling, Himel said laws against keeping a common bawdy house, communicating for the purposes of prostitution, and living on the avails “are not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton said it was not surprising that the government would appeal a decision of such legal importance.

“It needs to — and will, I’m sure — open up a debate on how we can ensure that women who find themselves involved in prostitution and as sex workers are better protected,” Layton told reporters.

Asked for the NDP’s position on the legalization of prostitution, he said, “We have taken the view that aspects of the law need to be changed to protect women.”

But he said, “We also need to make sure that organized crime is not allowed to grow and spread, so I think there is going to be a major debate across the country on these issues and that could be a good thing.”

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Ontario will join the federal government in appealing the ruling to the Ontario Court of Appeal and asking for the existing laws to remain in effect past the current 30-day stay until the appeal is heard, provincial Attorney General Chris Bentley said.

“These laws are important. They protect people from being lured or coerced into prostitution, they protect people from being under domination of those who would prey,” he told reporters at Queen’s Park.

“They protect communities from the adverse effects of prostitution-related activity.”

Ontario is hoping a stay keeping the current laws in effect until the appeal will be granted because “we need legal certainty,” Bentley added.

The province intervened on behalf of the federal government when the case was initially heard.

“All laws can be improved upon, but we believe these laws are important to protect communities, to protect young people,” Bentley said, noting he hopes an appeal can be heard “expeditiously.”

He would not comment on the prospect of a judicial ruling radically altering laws surrounding prostitution instead of leaving such decisions to Parliament.

“I won’t address that,” Bentley said.

The federal government should accept the prostitution ruling and the prospect of a “brand new era,” said New Democrat MPP Peter Kormos, a lawyer and his party’s justice critic.

To fight the ruling is hypocritical given the way other, thinly veiled sex trade business is carried out, Kormos added.

“Municipalities across Ontario license and tax so-called massage parlours, what you call rub-and-tug joints, which are, in fact, houses of prostitution. Everybody knows it. The cities that are licensing them and taxing them know it, so let’s stop the hypocrisy.”

In Ottawa, the federal Liberals said the Conservatives should have tackled the prostitution problem years ago.

“The Conservatives left a policy vacuum in place for five years which allowed sex trade workers who are victims to continue to be victimized, our children and our women, to continue to be exploited and those sex trade workers who wish to be in that particular legal activity, not to be able to ensure their own safety,” Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings told the media.

During the appeal process, the government should “undertake the actual consultation and to start bringing forward policies that will fill the vacuum and ensure that sex trade workers are protected,” Jennings said.

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